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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. BAYLISS.

FENCE POST. 7 No. 319,878. Patented June 9, 1885.

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YNITED STAT S PATENT Fries.

WILLIAM BAYLISS, OF \VOLVERHAMPTON, OOUN TY OF STAFFORD, ENGLAND.

FENCE'POSTJ SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,878, dated June 9,1885.

Application filed December 29, 1884. (Nomodell Patented in England July 26, 1884, No. 10,638; in Cape of Good Hope October 16, 1884, No. 11/542; in Natal October 23,1884, No. 2/1885; in Victoria Novemberl1,1884, No. 3,883; in South Australia Novemher 17, 1884, No. 507, and in Queensland January 17, 1885, No. 7

, page 205.

To all whom it may concern; I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BAYLISS, re-

siding at WVolverhampton, in the county of Stafford, England, a, subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented certain Improvements in Metal Fencing, (for which I have applied for Letters Patent in Great Britain, my application being numbered 10,638, and bearing date the 26th day of July, 1884, but have not yet received the grant of Letters Patent,) of which the following is a specification. My invention relates, chiefly, to barbed-wire fencing,'but is applicable also to plain-wire fencing, and in-part also to metal fencing gen erally.

The first part of my invention relates to the construction of the standard and earth-plate and the means for attaching the former to the latter, and the object is the improvement of that class of earth-plates which are set vertically in the ground and to which the stand ard or post is attached. The invention consists in the means and mode of securing the standard to the earth-plate.

The second part of my invention relates to improvements in the means for securing the wires or horizontal elements in the standards or vertical elements, or, conversely, securing vertical bars in the. horizontal rails or ele ments of a metal fence.

The invention consists, in the main, in providing the edge of the standard or rail with flanges or beads and recesses or notches to receive the wires or bars, and with an elongated tubular sheath arranged to slip over or fit over the beaded edge of said standard or rail, so as to close the receiving-recesses therein, all as will be more fully hereinafter described.

In the drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of my improved fencing set up for use, the earth being in section, so as to show the earth-plate set therein. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation, the section being taken on line2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate slight modifications of the constructions of the earth-plate. Figs. 6

and 7 are respectively a horizontal section plate, adapted to be set vertically in the ground with its face parallel to the line of the fence, so as to give a strong lateral support to the fencing-standard. In this plate is formed a rectangular aperture, a, through which are passed the ends I) b of a stirrup, B, which ends are clinched down (as seen in Fig. 3) upon the back of the plate. usually insert into the plate by passing its bight through the aperture a from the back of the plate and pushing it through until the clips or clinches previously formed on its-ends bear on the plate, as seen in the drawings.

0 is the standard, which is a flat plate or web provided with a back flange or flanged foot, 0, where it rests against the plate, lateral ribs (1, and lateral beads or ribs 6 at or near its front edge, which latter ribs I usually make half-round in cross-section, or nearly so; This standard is passed through the stirrup, and the latter secures it to the plate.

In setting the standard I usually drive it through the stirrup B into the ground as far as desired, and then drive the plate into the ground.

In lieu of forming an aperture, (1, in the middle of the plate, I may form it in one edge of the plate, as in Fig. 4, or form one in the upper and one in the lower edge of the plate, in which case two of the stirrups would be required for each plate. \V here the stirrup is inserted at the edge of the plate, as in Fig. 4, instead of one large aperture or recess I may employ two smaller recesses, as in Fig. 5, to receive each an end of the stirrup O. WVhen the recess or aperture to receive the stirrup is made in the bottom edge of the plate, as in Figs. 4 and 5, the standards may all be driven This stirrup I and the wires attached thereto, then the stirrups placed around the standards at the ground, and then the earth-plates placed in position to engage the stirrups and driven in the ground.

In order that the stirrups may be easily driven into the ground, I prefer to make them 'of flat and rather thin plate, as shown. Their lower edges may be beveled or sharpened, if desired, and this can be effected in rolling the metal. The second part of my invention relates to the means by which the wires or bars are attached to the standards or rails, as the case may be. I

Figs. 1 to 3 illustrate one construction for securing wires to vertical standards or posts.

Notches are formed in the front edge of the standard to receive the several strands of fencing-wires ff, and these notches extend through the heads 0 near the edge of the standard and back to' or about to the ribs d. After the wires are properly placed in their respective notches, a tubular slitted sleeve or sheath, D, which is made to fit or take over the front edge of the standard, including the beads e, is slipped over the said portion of the standard from the end of the latter, and crosses and closes the open entrances of said notches, so as to retain the wires f therein.

This sheath is preferably constructed to press against said wires with some elastic force,and thus insure them against playing laterally. The enlargement formed by the beads 6 prevents the sheath D from escaping laterally, and to prevent it from moving endwise I usually indent it with a punch, as at g, opposite one or all of the recesseswhich receive the fencing-wires. As these recesses are already provided, I prefer to use them; but it is obvious that one or more recesses other than these might be made in some part of the standard to receive the indentation g of the sheath; or the sheath might be secured against endwise movement on the standard by some other well-known means, as by a screw,for example, as indicated at h in Fig. 1. This sheath D, when made to fit the standard tightly, as it should, serves to re-enforee the standard and supply in some degree the loss of strength sustained by the standard in cutting or forming therein the recesses for the fencingwires. The sheath usually extends the entirelength of the standard above ground, or nearly so. I prefer to so construct the sheath D that it will elastically clamp on the standard.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a slightly-modified construction of the standard, in which a feather, t, is formed on the front edge of the standard, which may be considered as a prolongation of the web beyond the ribs 0. The

sheath D is shown as constructed to fit this form of the standard, although it may as well be cylindrical, as shown in Fig 8.

Fig. 8 illustrates a method of applying the sheath otherwise than slipping it 011 longitu' dinally. The sheath is spread open so that it may be forced on or placed on the front edge .of the standard, and then it is pinched on the standard so as to tightly clasp the same.

So far I have described my invention as applied to fencing where wires or similar horizontal members are arranged in notches in the edges of vertical standards; butI may employ my invention in fencing where the posts or standards are connected by two or more rails constructed similar to the standards 0, and said rails are provided with notches to receive vertical bars, which take the place of the wires f. This construction is illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, and 11, Fig. 9. being a plan ofa part of a horizontal rail, C, the vertical bar or rod f being in cross-section, Fig. 10 being a vertical transverse section on line 10 10 in Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 being a vertical section on line 11 11 in Figs. 9 and 10. The rail 0 has ribs 6 at or near its front edge, and recesses or notches to receive the bars or rods f. The recess is not equal in width to the diameter of the bar f, and the latter is notched at one or both sides, in order to reduce it enough in thickness to allow it to enter the notch, as shown in Fig. 11. This prevents any longitudinal movement of the bar in its notch, and it is prevented from escaping laterally by a sheath, D, precisely like that shown in Fig. 6. This sheath should extend the whole length of the rail, which is equal to the length of a panel of the fence. This construction is especially useful in the case of vertical-bar fencing, which is bundled in panels or sections for transport and put together in site. I have not shown the ribs or flanges d on the rails C; but they may be employed on these as well as on the standard 0.

As the wiresfin Figs. 1, 2, and 3 might be replaced by horizontal bars or rods, it follows that the rail 0 in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 corresponds, as a member of a fence, to the standard G in the principal figures, and rods f cor; respond, as members, to the wires f in the principal figures.

When a standard or other corresponding member of a metal fence is notched at its edge to receive wires, bars, or rods, there is atendency, owing to the thinness of the metal web, for the recesses to become unduly enlarged by the tearing out of the metal at the back of same. To obviate this and to re-enforce the said recesses at the back, I provide the said notched element with the ribs d, or at least one of these, arranged at or near the bottoms of the notches or recesses. These also add greatly to the strength and stiffness of the member.

I am well aware that it has been proposed to form loops or eyes in an earth-plate by punching or pressing out integral portions of the same on both sides, and to then thread the standard through said loops or eyes. This construction involves a peculiar shaping or concaving of the plate to receive the standard, which I avoid by my construction, which differs from that just described in that my plate is preferably flat and the flat back or face of thestandard rests against the plane face of the plate, and my stirrup and keeper are not integral with the plate.

I am also well aware that it is not newto form nicks or recesses in the edge of the standard for the reception of the fencing-wires, and

to provide clips which embrace the standard to retain the wires in place. So far as I am y aware, however, all of these proposed c011- plate, A, provided with an aperture, a, of the stirrup B, constructed separate from the earthplate and to fit into said aperture a, and provided with flanges I), as described, and the standard 0, constructed to fit into the loop'or keeper formed by the stirrup, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination,with a standard or corresponding member of a metal fence provided with clip-retaining beads e, and notches in its front edge to receive the wires or other corresponding members of the fence, said notches extending through said retaining-beads e,- of the elongated sheath D, constructed to fit over the front edge of the standard, as set forth, and to close the notches, whereby said sheath stands wholly in front of the wires, for the purposes set forth.

3. A standard for metal fencing provided with clip-retaining beads e at its front edge, notches or recesses to receive the wires,which notches extend through said heads 6, and a rib or ribs, (I, back of said notches or recesses, whereby the wire-retaining clip may-bemounted on the post or standard wholly in front of the wires, and the backs of the notches are re-enforced, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the standard 0, provided with clip-retaining beads e, a rib or ribs, (1, and notches to receive the fencingwires, which extend back into the standard beyond the beads e, an elongated sheath, D, constructed to fit over the beads e and to close the recesses for the wires, and the fencingwires arranged in said notches back of the sheath,whereby the elongated sheath maybe slipped along the standard in front of all the wires, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM BAYLISS. Witnesses:

STEPHEN WATKINs, ROBERT M. LISTER. 

